


Nothing We Haven't Seen Before

by betweentheskies



Series: 100 Word Challenge [5]
Category: Chicago PD (TV)
Genre: 100 word challenge, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort, Gen, IA are jerks, Some Swearing, and mentions of bad crimes, jay hits bad guys ok, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:06:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24010282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/betweentheskies/pseuds/betweentheskies
Summary: “Once in a blue moon IA decides to actually do their jobs, I suppose. Sure, we have clearance to do our work, but they still feel the need to enforce their reviews. I mean, I saw the guy myself, he was able to walk to the transport van on his own. How bad did you hit him?”[Word of the Day: Memorandum]
Series: 100 Word Challenge [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1432918
Kudos: 12





	Nothing We Haven't Seen Before

**Author's Note:**

> Oh you thought I gave up on this challenge? Well... me too but here we are!
> 
> (Let's pretend I truly understand how Internal Affairs and police departments work, okay? I mean the IU do hit a lot of suspects.)

“Intelligence Unit.” 

A quiet voice answered the phone in the same way she always did. Nadia had been a part of the unit for several months now, ever since Erin Lindsey helped her get sober and offered her a job as the secretary for the Intelligence Unit. She was a bright girl and liked by all and, since her voice interjected between the clicks of a keyboard and scratches of pen on paper, Detective Jay Halstead threw the girl a quick look.

And when he did, she had already been looking at him, causing him to raise one eyebrow as if to say “everything okay?” Nadia quickly finished the phone call and gave Jay a closed-lipped smile before getting up from her desk and descending the steps that led to the atrium of the precinct. 

Jay wished he could follow her, to be anywhere else but at his desk. He didn’t want to fit the stereotype of cops hating to write reports but, god, he really did not like writing them. Especially after the last case the unit dealt with. A notorious gangster by the name of Pony was suspected of forcing working girls to take a cocktail of drugs so that they would be pliable and non-combative. Two girls connected to him were found dead in two weeks, which is what caused the unit to finally crack down on the man.

But the real problem was trying to get him to flip on his drug and weapons suppliers. Sure, he was big and bad and mean but he could only operate with the help of his so-called criminal friends. Even when facing a life sentence for the murder of those two girls - “it was an accident, how you gonna call it a murder?!” was not a viable defense - he was hesitant to give up any names.

So, like he had seen and done in the past, Jay took the man down to the cage in the precinct garage. An ominous little thing, tucked away in the corner and taking up only a few square feet, many confessions had come out of there. Confessions that were most certainly obtained illegally but that never seemed to be an issue.

Tossing his pen to the side, Jay let out a huff of breath as he dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. He just needed to finish the report and then he could go home. Or maybe to Molly’s because he could definitely use a drink. He was so wrapped up in his own mind that he didn’t even realize someone was standing beside him.

“Uhm, Detective Halstead?” Nadia probed, still always a bit unsure on how to interact with the detectives. Jay would honestly be fine with being on a first-name basis with the girl but being addressed by title worked to.

“What’s up?” The man in question asked, hands quickly dropping onto his desk as he blinked a few times before setting his gaze on the woman standing next to his desk.

“This came in for you,” Nadia said as she held out an innocuous manila envelope. 

“Who is it from?” Jay asked as he took the envelope and started to open it up.

“Sergeant Platt said someone from IA dropped it off.”

Jay’s eyes quickly jumped from the envelope to Nadia before turning towards Voight’s office, where the man was sitting at his desk behind a closed door.

“About what?” 

“I don’t know, I didn’t ask or open it,” Nadia answered, already taking a step or two backwards to return to her desk. During her short time at the Intelligence Unit, she quickly learned that a rocky past with Internal Affairs meant that the detectives were not fans of the organization.

Jay’s heart rose in his throat a bit as he pulled out a small stack of papers. Despite how the tension between the two units had started to ease, it seemed like IA still had it out for Intelligence and, when a battered suspect was given the chance to speak, it apparently looked like they took the opportunity.

For a moment, the detective didn’t even register the words on the page. All he saw was his name and Pony’s legal name. As his green eyes scanned the pages, he found himself going back to the beginning of sentences and paragraphs to reread them since the content they held went right through him.

Blinking hard a few times and giving his head a shake, Jay carefully set the papers down on his desk and reread them - slowly - from the beginning. The first page consisted mainly of legal jargon that explained what the purpose of the memorandum was which was, apparently, about the methodology in which Jay had obtained the confession. Then it laid out how, after his arrest, the gangster would not stop complaining to his lawyer about the alleged abuse that he had gone through and how he wanted someone, ideally Jay, to pay. Or a reduction in his sentence. IA simply wanted Jay to be aware of what was happening and offered suggestions about how to conduct interrogations in the future. All of which were bullshit, mind you, considering that the nature of the crimes that the IU dealt with wouldn’t be solved with a simple “can you please confess your crimes?” request.

Jay found himself rising from his desk and crossing the room to Voight’s office, hand already on the doorknob before he remembered to knock. He was pretty sure he wasn’t in trouble but, as Voight called him in, he couldn’t help but feel like there was some hidden motive behind the memorandum.

“How’s the report going? Finished yet?” Voight asked from his leaned back position in his chair.

“No, not yet,” Jay answered as he entered and shut the door behind him despite how, beside Nadia, only Antonio remained in the office. 

“I got this memorandum thing from IA and I - am I in trouble?” Jay asked as he turned the papers over to Voight, who had reached for said items the moment that “IA” had left Jay’s lips. Voight was quick to read over the files, clearly not having to reread them multiple times like Jay had, and the detective under fire nervously wiped his palms against the side of his jeans, a nervous tick he would only expose when there were few witnesses around.

“Take a seat, Jay, you’re going to make me nervous,” Voight muttered out as he continued to read, which immediately made Jay sink into a chair.

“First of all, you’re not in trouble. You did exactly what I would have done and have done before. IA is just trying to cover their asses by making it look like they are reprimanding you,” Voight explained as he gave the papers back to Jay.

“This is the first time I’m seeing something like this. Why now? Why me?” He asked, trying not to let his stress seep into his voice.

“Once in a blue moon IA decides to actually do their jobs, I suppose. Sure, we have clearance to do our work, but they still feel the need to enforce their reviews. I mean, I saw the guy myself, he was able to walk to the transport van on his own. How bad did you hit him?”

Jay paused for a moment, eyebrows coming together in thought.

\- - - - - 

_“Lemme guess. You’re gonna leave me down here. Lemme sit with my thoughts, think about what I did.” The tone was mocking, the laugh that came afterward indicating he wasn’t going to take this seriously._

_“If I wanted you to sit on your ass and think, I would’ve locked you in a cell with the drunks that get brought in,” Jay responded before forcing Pony into the cage, which led to the man’s knee hitting the bench and his face digging into the chainlink._

_“Instead, I’m going to ask you one last time the same question I asked before. But this time, if I don’t get the answer I’m looking for, I’m going to resort to new tactics,” Jay continued as he shrugged off the black hoodie he was wearing before tossing it to the side. With his arms crossed over his chest, he knew he was in an intimidating stance._

_“C’mon, you the police, you can’t touch me anymore. I got rights,” Pony jeered as he settled himself onto the bench, wrists still cuffed behind his back._

_“Who is your supplier for the drugs and girls?”_

_“I told you, I ain’t saying shit without my lawyer.”_

_The next sound to break the silence of the garage was the hard slap that happened when Jay’s right hand swiftly hit Pony across the face. Jay had slapped him so hard that even his own hand tingled._

_“What the fuck, dude?”_

_“That’s not the right answer.”_

_Another slap, this time followed by Jay taking a closer step and using his knee to hit Pony’s gut, which caused the man to double over and cough._

_“You fuckin’ crazy and you’re gonna pay for this.”_

_Another slap, another knee to the gut and this time Jay held up Pony by his hair so that he could deliver another hit to the face, which caused Pony’s nose to bleed._

_“My lawyer is gonna -”_

_Slap. Knee. Slap. And then the cage rattled as Jay threw Pony into one of the sides before he held him up, by his throat, with one side of Pony's face pressed against the metal._

_“I want names and, if you’re smart, you’ll give me phone numbers and addresses,” Jay demanded in an even tone, fingers flexing around Pony’s neck that caused him to gasp and wriggle in his grip. Instead of his knee, this time Jay used a fist and turned Pony’ stomach into a punching bag, though this barely lasted for a minute._

_“Fuck, okay, okay - OW - stop!”_

\- - - - - 

“I mean, nothing major comes to mind. Nothing you haven’t seen before,” Jay answered after a beat of silence, knowing for a fact that others had been treated much worse and never complained.

“Listen, I know someone I can call and make sure you’re all squared away,” Voight said in a reassuring tone, now leaning forward in his chair with his hands folded on the desktop.

“Jay, look at me,” he continued, pausing until Jay looked up from the memorandum before continuing, “you are a great detective, one of the best that I have had the pleasure of working with. You have a strong head on your shoulders and when your gut tells you to follow your instincts, you do.

“This,” he waved a hand in the direction of the papers in Jay’s hands, “this is just some red tape bullshit meant to scare you into compliance. If they were truly concerned, they would’ve come up here and said it themselves, not through some fancy letter-headed papers.” 

Jay took a deep breath before nodding, a wave of relief washing over him. He was almost embarrassed with how much he had been worried about this but that is why Voight was there. Despite his rough exterior, he was the leader of the unit. He was the one to talk people off ledges or encourage them to go in the right direction. He didn’t throw out compliments often so, to hear them now, settled the last of Jay’s worries.

“Alright, yeah,” he started with a nod before clearing his throat a bit, “thanks Voight. I’ll just put these in a drawer I guess.” He stood and started to leave for the door. As he opened it, Voight called out one last remark.

“And finish your goddamn paperwork or I’ll be sending out my own memorandum.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and may a fiery Jay Halstead bless your day.


End file.
